Riley--
I remember when you asked about buying the Brick. I advised that
'classic' car ownership was a vice--an addiction--that made no sense on
paper--ever. Buy a car you can drive, I advised. If you have to ask
how much, you can't afford it--and yet somehow, we all do. I think we
all know we spent too much on the monsters, until that afternoon when
we're tooling along and catching envious stares form people who don't
have a clue about what it is they're looking at. We don't give a DAMN
about cost, because it has no bearing on VALUE--and as an experience, a
Briclin is something to value.
I drove mine about 2000 miles in 30 hours about four years ago from
Southern California to Northern Idaho. Uncomfortable! A gas Hog! I
expected to break down at every stressful minute! But there wasn't a
person I met or passed that knew what it was I was driving, and the
looks and waves and thumbs up were worth it.
We hate our cars. We love our cars. We're American Men, with a capital
'M' and that is the testosterone-loaded way it is. We are victims of a
century of subliminal programming and there isn't a 'cool' car that I
look at and want to drive that doesn't reinforce my belief that that is
the way it is always going to be. Think rebuilding your wheels is
costly, wait until you try doing a prototype--you'll find out why there
were only a couple thousand Bricks made.
If you don't think your car is worth it, get out of it now--get it to
someone who does. It will never get cheaper. It will never be over.
It will never get better. It will never get worse. I, too, wish I'd
never bought the damn thing--or the 1970 Opel GT I'm restoring, or the
1985 Ford pickup I'm customizing. Get the picture?
When you can't afford the pain, it's time to quit--COLD TURKEY!!
Good luck, Kid!
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